Lawn mower



June17, 1941. y R. R'. vPOYNTER y 2,245,821

' I LAWN MowER 'y Filed Nov. 7., v1940 v2' sheets-sheet 2- 15 Y mum -Y .3mm

.3 i :ad

Patented June 1.7, 1941 2,245,821 LAWN Mowna t Ralph Reese Poynter, Lebanon, Ind. l .'ApplicanonNvemberf7, 1940, serial No. 364,719;` f

1&4 claims. (ci. ses-925.

ventionare .shown appliedto a.-.p ower driven. lawn mower of .thef. rotating .bla-detype... j.The mower may be'of any l. suitable construction, the.. one shown inthe drawings havingv asupporting frame IILprovidedwith a .pair of spaced-traer This invention relates to-new`and useful improvements in mowers of the type employing horizontally rotatable cutters.1 y

lIthas been yrecognized that ordinary lawn mowers-of the'reeltypefarevinifective for the cutting 'of'tall tough grass andweeds because of the diiiiculty of drawing lthe grass between the blades of the reel landthe ledger plate. Efforts have 'been made to overcome thisV diiiiculty by providing vauxiliary cutter attachments for the conventional l"mowerff' the cutter attachments having horizontally rotatable' cutters, or con-` structing alawn mower-'wherein the sole cutting means comprises horizontallyy rotatable cutters.

` Lawn mowersor attachments for lawnl mowers employing horizontally rotatable cutters must, of a necessity, employ vertical shafts'lfor-rotating the cutters." In cutting'tall tough grass with this type Vof cutter, there is a tendency for the cut grass to wrap l,around the vertical shaft therebyimpairing Athe eiciency of the mower.

Thus, a primary object of thepresent invention isto'providea lawn mower capable of cuttingr tall tough grass' orweeds withoutimpairing the efliciency of the'mower.

A further object of the present invention isn the provision Aoi Aa mower having the cutting members'so arranged vthat they are vcapable of cleanly ,cuttingl or' trimming grass along curbs, sides of buildings, tombstones and like stationary objects without v damage to the-cutters lwhile permitting a close trimming operation;

A still further object'of the present invention is the provision of a lawn mower which is relatively simple 'in construction, highly eiiicient in operation,` land which'is capable of operation with minimum effort on the part of the operator.

Other .objects and advantages reside in certain novel features of theconstruction, arrangement and lcombination of parts which will be hereinafter moregfully described and particularly'pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this speciiication, and in which: n E H j I 1 Figure 'i isja top planjview oi' the mower; Figure y2 is aside elevational view ofthe same'. Figure `3 is a-veticall'cross-sectional view taken on the line 3`3 oflEigurel. V v' Figure '4 is a top plan vview of one of the cutter blade assemblies. m v

Figurefis aA sectional view" taken on the line 5- .5 of ligireli.`

lReferring to the drawings, the improvements forming thev subject matter of theA present intion wheelsl `II mounted, upon' anfaxle IZsupported on the frame I0. The .wheels II may be of any desired type, but are preferably,pneu-v matic orare provided with solid rubberv treads, Mountedat the forward end of the frame. .f

are a pair of housings- I3. IThe'A housings are shown as .being integrally formed with the :frame but maybe separate'fmembers vpermanently or detachably secured to the frame. Received within these housingsare the, vertical .shaft members I4. Each of the shafts Il is mounted mariti-.v

friction bearings indicated by-the numeral l5, separated by a spacing sleeve I6 whichissecured to the housing I3 bya set screw II. 1 The anti-friction bearings are preferably ball bearings land serve totake the end thrust of the shaft in.. op-

posite directions;` f

The lower end of eachsofithe shafts terminatesl in a flat disc-like portion I8 to which the blade carrying f housingvl! is ldetachably secured by means ofbolts 20. The cutting. blades 2I are mounted onthe lower surfaceofthev housingl or.'

casing I9 tand rotate in a horizontal/plane, said rotation resulting from .the `rotation of `the vver-A tical` shaft upon which4 the casing is mounted..-

The cutterl bladesv are detachably mounted by means of the threaded'bolts 22 .to enable same to 4be removed for sharpening or otherfpurposes.

...Also mounted on each side wall of -the housing: at opposite sides thereof are a pair of cutting blades 23. These blades aredetachably secured to the housing by means of bolts 24.- vThe cutter blades 23 are smallerthan the cutter blades 2|4 mera128. The motor 2l is mounted at therear of the frame, Il above. thewheels Il. A cover plate v29, detachably'secured-to 'frame Ill'protests the puueys zsvandkbeltzs;

vA pair of wheels 30 are'suitablyl journalled vto the forward end rof frame Il by means of shaft journalsfgenerally 'indicated' bythe numeral 31|.

As is clearly illustrated iny Figure. 3, the front wheels nare 'relatively'thin and the ends of the cutters Il, when in*v transverse position,

to a point closely adjacent the inner surface of the wheels. As a result of this construction, the cutter blades will cut a strip of grass almost equal to the full width of the mower.

As is clearly illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, both ends of the front axle are bent upwardly approximately one eighth of an inch from the horizontal thereby resulting in a slight tilting of the front wheels. The wheels tilt inwardly at the top approximately ilve degrees from the vertical and.measure approximately one inch closer from tip to tip at the top than at the bottom of the wheels.

Numerous advantages follow as a result of the novel construction andarrangement of the cutter blades and the tilted wheels. The tilting of the front wheels permits mowing close to stones, curbs and similar objects with minimum effort as the whole side ofthe front wheels will not drag against any vertical object when mowing against it. The tilting of the front wheels will also allow mowing around tomb stones with bases extending or bulging out past the grass line, as the mower will mow under the bulging portion. On water levees, sh hatchery terraces etc., the mower will not skid. In other words, the presence of the tilted wheels will permit the mower to mow any type of steep incline without skidding.

The front wheels 3| serve the further functions of protecting the cutter blades from striking against stationary objects and supporting the forward part of the frame to keep the cutter blades 2| spaced the desired distance above the ground.

It will be apparent that the power driven lawn mower is operated in the usual way for driving the rotating cutter blades 2|. The blades should be driven at relatively high speed but this inay be controlled by the operator. .As the machine moves forward in its normal cutting operation, the cutters 2| operating at high speed will effectively sever any tall grass or weeds in their path. It is further apparent thatf'cutter blades 2,3, mounted on the casing carrying the cutter blades 2|, will also rotate at the same speed as the cutter blades 2|. The blades 23, being shorter than the blades 2|, will not'come into contact with the uncut grass but functions to prevent any of the cut grass from wrapping around the casing i9 and working up into the operating parts of the shaft assembly, and accomplishes this function by chopping or further cutting the tall cut grass into small lengths which are then readily cast aside.

From the foregoing explanation, it will be appreciated that the disposition of the front wheels with respect to the cutter members provides marked advantages. It will be further appreciated that the provision of the additional cutters insures efficient operation of the mower by eliminating the clogging of the operating ports by the tall cut grass.

Thus it will be 'seen that the construction herein Ashown and described is well adapted to accomplish the objects of the present invention. It will be understood, however, that the invention may be embodied otherwise than here shown and that in the embodiment illustrated, certain changes in the construction may be made. Therefore, I do not wish to be limitedprecisely to theA construction herein shown except as may be required bythe appended claims with reference to the prior art.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

l 1. A lawn mowercomprising a frame, wheels mounted at therear of the frame, a vertical shaft mounted on the forward end of the frame. means for rotating said shaft, a cutter member mounted at the lower end of the shaft for rota tion therewith and additional cutter members carried by the shaft above the lower cutter member.

2. A lawn mower comprising a frame, a vertical shaft mounted on the frame, means for rotating said shaft, a cutter member mounted at the'lower end of the shaft for rotation therewith, wheels mounted on the frame adjacent the cutter member and additional cutter members carried by the shaft above the lower cutter member.

3. A lawn mower comprising a frame, wheels mounted at the rear of the frame, a vertical shaft mounted on the forward end of the frame, means for rotating said shaft, a cutter member mounted at the lower end of the shaft for rotation therewith, wheels mounted on theforward end of the frame adjacent the cutter member and additional cutter members carried by the shaft above the lower cutter member.

4. A lawn mower comprising a frame, wheels mounted at the rear of the frame, a vertical shaft mounted on the forward end of the frame, means for rotating said shaft, a protective casing surrounding said shaft and rotatable therewith, a cutter member attached to the lower end of the casing, and a cutter member secured to the side wall of the casing above the lower cutter member.

5. A lawn mower comprising a frame, a' vertical shaft mounted on the frame, means for rotating said shaft. a cutter member mounted at the lower end of the shaft for rotation therewith, said cutter extending to at least one edge of the frame and a relatively thin wheel having an outer surface substantially free of projections mounted at the aforementioned edge of the frame. 4 Y

6. A lawn mower comprising a frame, vertical shafts mounted on the frame, means for rotating said shafts, cutter members mounted at the lower` end of each of the shafts, said cutter members when in transverse position extending the full width of the frame, and relatively thin wheels having outer surfaces substantially free of projections mounted on the frame adjacent the cutter members.

7. A lawn mower comprising a frame, wheels mounted at the rear of the frame, a vertical shaft mounted on the forward end of the frame, means for rotating said shaft, a protective casing surrounding said shaft and rotatable therewith, cutter members mounted at the lower end of the casing,A additional cutter members secured to the side wall of the casing and wheels mounted on the foreward end of the frame adjacent the cutter members.

8. A lawn mower comprising a frame, wheels mounted at the rear of the frame, a vertical shaft mounted on the forward end of the frame, means for rotating said shaft, a protective casing surrounding said shaft and rotatable therewith, cutter members mounted at the lower end of -the casing and additional cutter members secured to the side wall of the casing, said lat- .ter cutter members being shorter than the first cutter members.

9. A lawn mower comprising a frame, wheels mounted at the rear of the frame, a vertical shaft mounted on the forward end of the frame, means for rotating said shaft, a protective casing surrounding said shaft and rotatable theret the lower end with, cutter members mounted of the casing, additional cutter; members secured to the side wall of the casing/' said latter cutter members being shorter than the first cutter members and being arranged in different horizontal planes.

10. A lawn mower comprising a frame, vertical shafts mounted on the frame, means for rotating said shafts, protective casings surrounding said shafts, and rotatable therewith, cutter members mounted at the lower ends of each of the casings, cutter members mounted in each of the side walls of the casings, said lower cutter members extending the full width of the frame,I

and relatively thin wheels having outer surfaces substantially free of projections mounted on the frame adjacent the cutter members.

11. In a machine for cutting grass, a wheeled frame', vertical shafts mounted on said frame, a motor mounted on said frame for driving said shafts, a protective casing mountedoneach of said shafts for rotation therewith, cutter members secured to the lower end of the casing and cutter members secured to the side Wall of the casing above the iirst cutter members.

12. A lawn mower comprising a frame, vertical shafts mounted on the frame, means for rotating said shafts, cutter members mounted at the lower end of each of the shafts, f and 'Wheels mounted on the frame adjacent the cutter members, said wheels being tilted inwardly at their upper ends.

13. A lawn mower comprising a frame, vertical shafts mounted on the frame, means for rotating said shafts, cutter members mounted at the lower end of each of the shafts, said cutter members when in transverse position extending the full width of the frame, and relatively thin wheels mounted on the frame adjacent the cutter members, said wheels being tilted inwardly at their upper ends.

14. A lawn mower comprising a frame, vertical shafts mounted on the frame, means for rotating said shafts, protective casings surrounding said shafts and rotatable therewith, cutter members mounted at the lower end of each of the casings, cutter members mounted in each of the side walls of the casings, and relatively thin wheels mounted on the frame adjacent the cutter members., and having their upper ends tilted inwardly.

RALPH REESE POYNTER. 

